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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22666720">Borrowing a Boat</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/darkenedjustice/pseuds/darkenedjustice'>darkenedjustice</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Original Work</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Superheros, Supers</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-02-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 16:08:42</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,946</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22666720</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/darkenedjustice/pseuds/darkenedjustice</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Snailman and Dark Angel saving people and saving each other all while throwing witty commentary about.<br/>Snailman is not my character (though I have permission to use him).</p>
            </div></td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Borrowing a Boat</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>All he could see was the outline of white wings against the night sky. Backup had arrived. Well she wasn't backup, more of a partner really. Even though he prefered to work alone. She landed beside him on the dock. The wings disappeared as the heroines cape settled behind her.<br/>"So you're a sea snail now"? She flashed him a grin. It was cute... the childish humor, not her smile.<br/>"Focus, the next "shipment" just left. It's about a mile out by now. We could have taken it out if-" She cut him off. Her head rolled slightly to the side.<br/>"I know, I know, I’m sorry I’m late, I just... civilian life, you know?" He sighed. Yea he knew, but there wasn’t time for excuses in this line of work.<br/>"There are civilian lives at stake". Her smile faded.<br/>"What are we waiting for then," she jumped off the dock and onto a speedboat below. "Come on, move your shell". He hopped into the boat, rocking it a bit.<br/>"You aren't stealing a boat, are you"? She slipped a key ring out of her utility belt and swung it around her finger.<br/>"You are absolutely right... WE are borrowing it." She started the engine. He sat down as the racer took off across the water. "I swiped the keys from the boat house, had to come prepared.” The night was quiet for a while. Just the sound of the sea and wind outside of the spandex suit. “Hey, I need a navigator." He rolled his eyes and sat back.</p><p>"No you don't. It's right there on the horizon, just turn on your night vision". She turned back to face him, brown hair whipping about in the wind. Her mouth open trying to find some witty remark.<br/>"I- I-" She turned back clicking the side of her mask. Then she faced him again and grinned. "Well maybe I just like hearing your voice".<br/>They hit a wave and the boat jumped up, almost knocking her to the small deck. He smirked, but it was practically invisible beneath his full face mask.<br/>"Shut up and drive". Behind the black cape he could see her white gloved hands gripping the steering wheel. She mumbled.<br/>"Yup, got it". Soon the little speed boat caught up to the cargo ship. Dark Angel shot a grappling hook up onto the railing and tied it to a front cleat. She turned off the motor and turned towards Snailman, nodding. The boat drifted on after the large cargo ship. He made sure the line seemed secure and then jumped from the small craft landing on the side of the ship. His hands and feet stuck to the hull, leaving behind slimey prints as he climbed his way to the top deck. She watched him climb up about halfway. The moonlight glinted off the sides of the shell on his back. She shook her head and got to work reloading her grapple. How does he climb vertically up the side of a smooth surface, lugging that thing around? She met him on the railing.<br/>"Game plan?" Angel whispered as Snailman dragged her behind a large metal crate.<br/>"From what I could see, all of the red crates are filled with people, that little boat won't fit them all so we need-"<br/>"What"? The heroine looked as if she had been slapped. "People"?<br/>"Yes," Snailman didn't waste time and walked over to the first crate fiddling with the lock. "We need to get as many people on that boat for safety and we won’t be able to fit them all, so we will have to take over the ship." He pushed Dark Angel over to the lock. "Open it, it will be quieter than me crushing it". She opened her front pocket and pulled out a little pick, almost mindlessly working on the lock.<br/>"When you said cargo, I thought- I mean, we usually handle the drug busts and the black market stuff at night-" The lock popped open with a little click and Snailman wrenched the giant metal door open. Dark Angel stood, shocked at the entrance as the moonlight fell on the faces of scared women and children. One woman gasped and Snailman shushed her.<br/>"It will be alright, we are here to rescue you please stay quiet and come with us". Dark Angel walked into the crate and picked up a child. Her smile was gone. "Finally," he thought," she's taking this seriously". She walked over and handed the boy to Snailman. Their masked faces seemed to pass on a message and they both went to work. Angel ran around the deck knocking out guards and unlocking crates while Snailman opened the crates and carried the people aboard the small speeder they had borrowed. They met up around the last crate.<br/>"There are too many of them, most of the people are waiting near the railing but it won't be long before they are spotted. We need to take over the ship. Then-" An outburst was heard near the railing, then distant screaming that ended with a splash. The hero's looked over near the noise and back at each other. The looks that passed between the masks said the same thing...crap. The deck lights turned on and guards started yelling. Dark Angel ran over to the small group of people near the railing.<br/>“What happened” An older woman that was clutching a child to her chest started frantically speaking in spanish. Another quieted her and translated, in a calmer fashion.<br/>“A guard came over, started yelling, he tried to grab Camila but isabella pushed him over the side.” The masked face glanced over the other women and children.<br/>“Nobody is hurt”? The older lady spoke again nodding to the hero.<br/>“No. Gracias, dulce Ángel.” Dark Angel nodded and careened the ladies over behind some crates.<br/>“Stay here, stay safe”. Then she was running off to find her partner. She snuck around the deck but all she found were the littered unconscious bodies of the boats guards. Some men were stuck in a slime coating on the sides of crates. She made finger pistols at one that was awake and glaring at her. He didn’t say anything, he couldn’t, there was a long strip of slime covering his mouth. She crept along the side of the ship until she reached the door to the bridge. It was wide open and swinging menacingly, a body lying in the doorway. Dark Angel stepped over it and into the dimly lit hallway. As she raced down the hall she jumped over the occasional unconscious body. She rounded the corner to find Snailman locked in battle with three pretty large goons. Using a running start she jumped off the wall and planted her feet right into one of the men’s chest. He went down like a sack of bricks coughing and gasping for air. One kick to the side of the head had him out like a light. She looked back at Snailman. He kicked one of the men in the chest and he flew down the hallway. That guy will surely have at least one broken rib. The other man was stuck to the wall by the back of his shirt. He kicked and hollered, but was quickly silenced when Dark Angel pushed his forehead back, slamming his head against the wall.<br/>“Who is running this operation”, She growled at him. The man clamped his mouth shut. She released his forehead and punched him in the face. “WHO IS RUNNING THIS OPERATION,” blood poured out of the man’s lip and into his beard.<br/>“Keep swinging girly, I ain’t no rat”. She threw her fist up to hit the goon again, but it stopped mid swing. Snailman gripped her wrist. She looked back at him and he shook his head. She groaned and gripped the man’s thick neck with her other hand. She glared at Snailman as the goon passed out. The heroes grip both fell.<br/>“You didn’t save me any,” She stomped past him down the corridor. Red lights started flashing and an alarm rang in their ears.<br/>“You can have the rest,” he quipped as he ran past her down the hall. Two guards rounded a corner and he shot slime at them out of his hands. They hit the back wall, unable to move. They kicked and hollered.<br/>“Almost like you don’t need me here,” Dark Angel half joked as she ran next to him. Snailman was silent. They fought their way down the hall to the control room door. They looked at the door and then at each other.<br/>“Trap”? He nodded.<br/>“Trap”. Snailman kicked down the door. Immediately they were rushed by five men. The first man got a white boot to the face as Dark Angel used his head at a stepping stool. She flipped off of him and when she landed her bo staff was extended behind her. Then she swung the staff around and smashed it into the next guy’s head. He dropped and cleared the view for her to see Snailman deliver a roundhouse kick to the other. He grabbed the fourth that was running towards Dark Angel and paused slime seeping from his gloved hands and onto the goons back. The man struggled but Snailman threw him effortlessly to the floor and the man stuck. Dark Angel turned to see the last goon backing into the hallway, trying to stay unnoticed. When he saw the heroes eyes on him he turned and ran. Panicking even more at the sight of more goons littering the hall. The heroes let the guy go. They focused on the dark figure that lurked in the corner of the room. The man was short a little over four feet and dressed in dark linen. His face had a scraggly beard and blood-lust filled eyes. He had a gun trained on another man who was at the wheel, the captain.<br/>“So I'm gonna take a wild guess and say that you're the one behind all of this,” Dark Angel motioned with her bo staff to the ship around them. The man didn't speak. Dark Angel glanced back at Snailman questioning him with a look. Villains didn't usually give them the silent treatment. Snailman tried a new approach walking forward with one hand out.<br/>“Put the gun down, you are under arrest, you don't need another casualty on the charges”. The man turned the gun quickly at the heroes. Snailman pivoted on his foot. His chest was in front of Dark Angel and his back was turned to the villain. The man fired three shots. The bullets ricochet off of Snail Man's indestructible shell. The villain’s eyes went wide and he fired another shot at the window behind him. He kicked the already shattering glass and lept from the control room and onto one of the many crates on deck. Snailman was up in an instant. He dove out the window after the criminal. Dark Angel ran over to the captain who was crouched next to the control panel.<br/>“Are you alright sir”? The old man nodded his head.<br/>“Please turn this ship around, and be careful of the small vessel that is attached and trailing behind your left- uh- port side.” Her bo staff retracted and she slid it into her belt. With that she jumped out the window. Snailman was following the criminal from crate top to crate top. He was three crates in front of Snailman. The small man jumped off of the crate and onto the deck next to the former prisoners. Snailman didn't jump on to the deck just yet. The small villain had a girl by the arm, gun to her head. The man dragged the little girl away from the others. She had tears in her eyes but stayed quiet out of shock.<br/>“No follow”. The little man spoke. He had a raspy voice, Snailman couldn’t quite place the accent. Snailman nodded at him. The little man dragged the girl past some crates out of sight. Snailman started to move when he heard a thump on the crate next to him.<br/>“Where’d he go”? Snailman sighed.<br/>“He has a hostage, at least he isn't leaving the boat anytime soon, I'll search for him, in the meantime the accomplices will be waking up soon,” he said without looking up.<br/>“Right… I'll get on that,” she jumped to the next crate and made her way to the bodies that were starting to stir on the deck. Dark Angel dragged them one by one into one of the crates that previously held the poor women and children that the men were trying to traffic out of the city. When she was done she locked it up. Then she went to check on the women and children near the back of the ship.<br/>“How are you all doing over here”? One of the women was leaning over the side of the ship. Another was rubbing her back, the lady threw up. The woman who spoke to Dark Angel before, stepped forwards.<br/>“We are alright, what about Lacy? Have you found her yet? Please, is there more of you coming? Are there more boats?” The heroine shook her head.<br/>“No, miss, we haven’t but rest assured we will have her back safe and sound my… partner is on it now. We want to keep everyone in one area. The ship is heading back to land.” She walked away patting a kid on the head. She stopped only a few feet away. Oh no. She started running to the front of the ship. How could they have forgotten?<br/>“SNAILMAN!” His rounded the corner and the two almost slammed into each other. He grabbed onto her shoulders.<br/>“What happened, are you hurt”?<br/>“No, the lifeboats,” she hissed, ”He can use the lifeboats”. Snailman paused.<br/>“Shit”, he started towards the sides. She split and ran to the other side of the ship. She looked at each rigging to see if the lifeboats were still attached and checked inside of each lifeboat. She had only gotten to the fourth when she heard a shout from her partner. Dark Angel turned around and bolted back to him. She looked out at the water and spotted a lifeboat only a few yards away, but moving fast. Snailman stepped up on the edge of the ship. Dark Angel made to grab him.<br/>“DON’T YOU DARE-”. It was too late. He dived into the water.<br/>“Dammit”, she watched as his shell bobbed beneath the surface. She looked down at the tangled ropes of the lifeboats and then at the water.<br/>“Ah what the hell,” she dove into the water after him. Farther off Snailman was dodging the oars that the man kept swinging at him. The villain took out his pistol and fired into the water. The little girl cowering on the other side of the boat. A line of slime left the hero's hand and covered the gun. The villain chucked it away, and resumed smacking at the hero with the oar. Snailman grabbed the end of oar and yanked it out into the water. The little man was almost pulled over the edge of the small lifeboat. The man fell backwards into the rocking boat. Off in the distance Snailman heard the sound of a helicopter's blades slicing through the air. Snailman grabbed onto the side and pulled himself onto the boat. Lacy shrieked as the boat rocked. The little man scooped up the other oar and stepped back swinging it threateningly. The wind quickened around them. Snailman glanced up. The helicopter was right overhead now. A rope ladder was being lowered behind the villain. Dark Angel pulled herself up on the side of the lifeboat. Speaking quietly to Lacy.</p><p>The villain turned brought the oar down with both hand sinking it deep into the bottom of the boat. The wood split and water started rushing in. Snailman jumped forward to tackle the villain and was hit in the side of the head with the oar. He head snapped to the side. He straightened his neck to look down at the man slowly. The man panicked. He turned around and started to climb up the rope ladder that had been dropped down beside him. The boat lurched forward and Lacy tumbled into Snailman. Dark Angel used the boat’s motion to throw herself passed her partner. She hung from the bottom of the ladder. The helicopter pulled away quickly. It caused the ladder to swing wildly over the water. The man above Angel kicked at her hands. She shuffled her hands around until the villain gave up and started climbing further up the ladder. She looked back at the lifeboat which was slowly sinking into the ocean with Snailman standing inside of it holding the child. It was getting farther and farther away.</p><p>Gripping onto the rope, she looked back up at the villain, who had reached the top of the ladder. He climbed on board. Dark Angel quickly scaled the ladder. One side of the rope snapped. She looked up and saw the little man quickly slicing at the ropes with a knife that he definitely didn’t have before. She pulled a small wing shaped throwing knife out of her belt. The man stumbled back with a cry, almost falling out of the helicopter. A dark figure pulled him back. The wing knife was lodged into his shoulder. Dark Angel swung the ladder and grabbed onto one of the landing skids. Just as she let go of the rope it snapped and flew disappearing into the dark water below. A foot appeared from above and stepped down on her gloved fingers. It was the man clothed in all black. The smaller villain stood next to him clutching his bleeding shoulder. “We will find you,” He just stared at her. The taller man added more weight onto her fingers. She winced and slipped her other hand into her belt. Her white glove slipped from the landing skids when she dropped. As soon as the men turned around she chucked a small device that stuck to the underside of the copter. Then Dark Angel plunged into the night sky waiting to feel the hard crack of the water.</p><p>Snailman heard a splash off in the distance. He had swam the girl to the nearest lifeboat. The coast guard lights could be spotted drawing closer. Now he waited, listening for any sound of his partner splashing or gasping. He waited for a full 30 seconds. The hero paddled over to the spot where his partner fell out of the sky. If this was even the spot. The water was a black inky void. A cold panic seeped into his chest. She would have drowned on his watch. Lost forever to the unforgiving ocean. A red light flashed underwater to the right of him. He waited for a moment until it flashed again and plunged his head under. Snailman grabbed onto the cape that was sinking down into the ocean. He yanked at it until her head bobbed out of the dark water. The ship and lifeboats had been taken by the coast guard, now too far away for him to paddle back.</p><p>It was a long way back to the shore. He was having trouble keeping her head above the water. Sure, he had powers but Snailman wasn’t able to swim forever. He dug around in her utility belt.</p><p>“You could have labeled these pouches,” he grunted. Well, it wasn’t like he would have been able to read them in the position they were in anyway. He pulled a small folded piece of plastic out on the top of the water biting the string and pulling at the plastic. Nothing happened.</p><p>“Are you kidding me”? He shook the plastic in the air and fiddled with it in one hand for a moment until he gave up and let go of Dark Angel for a moment to push the string in a bit more and give it a rough tug. The little plastic blew up into a inflatable pool ring. Snailman pulled at the dark cape sinking down to tug her back to the surface. He struggled to fit the inner tube over her unconscious form. When he was done she was floating around, one arm and her head stuck out of the top. He checked to see if she was breathing. Dark Angel’s chest rose and fell steadily.<br/>“You were all talk earlier and now you’re just taking a nap, I see how it is”. Snailman held onto the sides and started kicking to shore. “Don’t want to help out”.<br/>They were about one hundred yards from the shore when the pool ring popped. The duo sank under the water. Snailman held his breath. His legs and lungs burned. That only meant he was alive. He moved about underwater and dragged his partner to the surface again. Snailman kept kicking until his feet smacked into the sand. He stood and carried Dark Angel onto the beach. He dumped her softly onto the sand and plopped down beside her.<br/>“Come on sleeping beauty”. He watched her for a moment and paused… something was different. She wasn’t breathing. He put his ear to her chest. No heartbeat. He slapped her. She didn’t move. Realization hit him and he dragged up his mask just to the top of his nose. He administered CPR. The statistics flashed through his mind. It was only a forty percent chance she this would work. What if he had to unmask her. Carry her dead body to her family. He went back to blow into her mouth again and she shot forward smacking into his forehead. She choked, water spraying from her mouth. Snailman shoved her onto her side. She coughed all the water out. It took some time but after all the sputtering, she laid on her back gulping in air. Dark Angel studied the unmasked part of his face. His complexion was light brown. His had a wide nose and full lips. Her gaze did not stray from his lips.<br/>“You ok there”? He turned his head to the side looking at her through his mask. She nodded and slowly sat up pulling at the deflated inner tube wrapped around her chest.<br/>“What happened”? He pulled his mask back down, the edge sliding around his neck. She stripped herself of the deflated pool ring. Snailman watched tiredly and laid back on the sand.<br/>“ … you just took a little nap, that’s all”. His head tilted towards her, she couldn’t see his eyes but she could feel them boring into her. Dark Angel stood and offered him her hand. He took it and she pulled him up. Snailman winced. His legs burned.<br/>“Thank you”. She stared into his face mask. “... for everything”.<br/>“Anytime”. They stood there like that for a few moments. He let go of her hand.<br/>“It’s late”, he turned and started to walk up the beach. “You should sleep”. She followed.<br/>“Only after I track the signal from the bug I tagged to the ladder”. He turned around. She smiled tiredly up at him. “I’ll send you the coordinates tonight before I nod off”. He nodded.<br/>“No in the morning. Go home and sleep Angel.”<br/>“Have a Goodnight, ya slime bucket”. They went their separate ways. When Dark Angel got home she peeled off her suit, tossing it in the closet. She didn’t bother to shower, she could change the sheets later. She climbed into bed and fell asleep memory of Snailman's exposed lower face.</p>
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